Wednesday 18th November
The Ritz
6/10
Kurt Vile and the Violators played in front of a sell-out audience at the Ritz on the 18th November. Unsurprisingly, the set largely consisted of new material from his recent sixth studio album b’lieve i’m goin down… but there was still a place for a song or two from his previous three albums.
Wearing a denim jacket and tight skinny jeans, Kurt and his band opened with a succession of songs from his latest record, including the lead single ‘Pretty Pimpin’—a twangy, catchy song with a harmonious melody. The song already looks like it will be one of his most popular, with raucous applause arriving at its climax. A brief return to 2013’s Walkin on a Pretty Daze followed with ‘Walkin on a Pretty Day’ and ‘KV Crimes’ being met with a warm response.
Unfortunately there was no place for the dreamy, and, arguably, Vile’s best song, ‘Goldtone’ on the setlist. The Violators then left Kurt to go it alone as he breezed through the beautifully stripped back song ‘Stand Inside’ from the latest LP. He was soon rejoined by the rest of the band as they delved into some older stuff from his third and fourth albums, Childish Prodigy and Smoke Rings for My Halo respectively, including his best-known song ‘Jesus Fever’.
Intervals between songs were short, with the self-described Constant Hitmaker choosing to keep his mysterious, hairy facade by limiting his interaction with the audience, although at one point he declared his love for “Manchesterrr” in that Boston drawl his fans have grown to love him for.
Closing with an encore consisting of two songs, finishing with the psych-rock ‘Hunchback’, Vile and the Violators left the stage leaving the audience completely satisfied after nearly two hours of music.
